Judge criticises delay in fatal crash trial

A JUDGE has criticised the length of time it took to bring a case to trial as he issued a fine to a motorcyclist 20 months after an accident in which a woman died.

Lord Pentland said it seemed to be unsatisfactory that a High Court trial was taking place “only now”, after the tragedy in September 2013. He pointed out that eyewitness testimony was involved in the case and, with the passage of time, recollections became dimmed.

William Shirley, 24, appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh originally accused of causing the death of pedestrian Flavia Tumwijukye by dangerous driving at Great Junction Street in Leith on September 27, 2013. He denied the offence.

However, the jury yesterday found him guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving following a trial.

Following the verdict, the judge said the court was left to deal with “an instance of speeding at a level which was not greatly above the speed limit and nothing more than that”.

Lord Pentland said he did not think it was possible to say what the exact speed was, but it was probably in the region of 35mph to 40 mph — although that was too fast.

Ms Tumwijukye, 50, of Bristol, was originally from Uganda. She was crossing the road when the collision occurred. She suffered multiple skull fractures and a serious brain injury.

Lord Pentland said Shirley was “genuinely remorseful”.

Defence counsel Brian McConnachie, QC, said: “This is a matter which has been hanging over him since September 2013.”

Shirley, of Muirhouse, Edinburgh, was fined £150 and had three penalty points put on his licence.